The girls basketball team lost a tough game to Sumner 49-44. We totally lost our composure in the second quarter to Sumner’s pressure and trap, committing 10 turnovers. When we did get the ball down the court, we rushed our shots. With a little over a minute left in the quarter, Chelsea Brown dropped in a 3-pointer and then a couple foul shots for our only points, as we trailed 27-14 at the half.

With six minutes left in the third quarter, we made a 16-4 run sparked by Alison Cormier’s 8 points and Logan Eaton’s 6 points to trail only 33-30 after three. We tied it up to begin the fourth, but we let our guard down and again turnovers caught up with us and we gave Sumner back a 10-point lead with four minutes left.

Once again we battled back to trail by 2 with a minute left, but we just couldn’t capitalize on our opportunities and it slipped away. Sumner made their foul shots when we had to foul them and that cost us the game. This game really exposed our weakness to pressure that we will have to solve if we are going to compete against the better teams.

We did show great resolve in coming back twice from double digit deficits. The other good news from this game is that the younger players did step up offensively when we needed points. Chelsea Brown led us with 15, Alison Cormier 10, Logan Eaton 8, Allyson Eaton 5, and Shiann Closson 4.

The girls beat Bangor Christian easily 46-32. We really played down to their level as we led only 21-10 at the half despite causing 24 turnovers and going 9 for 27 at the foul line. We played a stronger third quarter by being more aggressive to the basket and much more coordinated play in the offensive end to lead 38-18 after three.

We were in control the whole game, but we should have won this game by much more. The offense was just not working in the first half, despite so many chances. Chelsea Brown led us with 14 points, Logan Eaton 8, Julie Hutchins and Shiann Closson each with 7, and Morgan Shepard 4.

The girls won another cardiac game beating George Stevens 41-39 by a Chelsea Brown basket in the last seconds of the game. This was not one of our best played games and it was close all the way. We trailed 17-15 at the half and 31-30 after three quarters. We were down by as many as 5 points in the last quarter, but battled back and converted a steal to tie it up near the end. Chelsea Brown made a big steal with 15 seconds left and converted a layup to give us the win with only seconds remaining.

Though it was good to gut out the win, we lost Shiann Closson to a knee injury in the first half and then Allison Cormier who was elbowed in the head. Chelsea Brown led us with 20 points with 7 of 9 from the foul line, and Logan Eaton and Allyson Eaton each with 7.

The boys basketball team took Bangor Christian to the whooping post, beating them 60-38. This was built up to be a big game, but we controlled the game early and BC couldn’t match up with our inside height. We led 22-8 and then 39-21 at the half.

We stretched our lead to 47-21 after three and led by 30 points with four minutes left, when Coach Glenn Billings let the younger players take over.

We changed to a zone defense early in the game and BC wasn’t able to hit their outside shots and keep up with us. Led by Hayden Ciomei and Stuart Bray, we dominated rebounding and limited their shots. Not surprisingly, Stuart Bray led us with 13 points, Hayden Ciomei 11, Tim Cormier 9, and Sam Grindle and Connor Morey each with 8.

The girls are 6-2 and in eighth place, though that doesn’t include the George Stevens win. Hopefully our injuries are not long term, as we are young and prone to mistakes but we never give up and our depth has been our saving grace. We have won a lot of close games which means we have to keep working to improve our team play to stay up in the standings. We have a string of games close together coming up that will determine where we will be in the standings. It will be important to keep winning the close games.

The boys at 6-1 are in third place and are playing well. We humbled Bangor Christian and they were above us in the standings before that game. We have a tough game at Machias this weekend and that will be another test for us. With a good balance of height and outside shooting, we can stay with anyone if our shooting is as good as usual and we are patient to pass to the open player. Our defense has been strong and we play well together, with everyone playing to their role. That is the key to a championship team.